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New Orleans Saints not sweating tight end Jimmy Graham's absence from offseason workouts

Jimmy Graham: Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (80) runs for yardage during the preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs at the Superdome on Friday, August 9, 2013.
(Brett Duke, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton indicated Jimmy Graham wouldn't be participating in the team's offseason workout program while the tight end and the team still haggle over a new contract.

Graham and the Saints have until July 15 to hammer out a long-term contract. If the deadline passes without such a deal, Graham would play the 2014 season under the franchise tag, which the Saints placed on him Feb. 28 at a price of $7.035 million.

"I think it's pretty normal," Payton said of Graham's status Wednesday before the Zurich Classic of New Orleans' Pro-Am. "Everything the first week was pretty much as expected."

There's still the question of whether Graham will file a grievance to contend he should be franchise tagged as a wide receiver ($12.3 million base salary in 2014) rather than as a tight end. The report of an April 22 deadline to file a grievance was incorrect, so the most important deadline remains July 15.

Graham said a couple months ago he had a contingency plan this offseason if contract talks remained stagnant. He's working out in Miami with former Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma during negotiations.

Two offseasons ago the Saints had the same issues while dealing with another star player during a contract impasse when Drew Brees missed workouts, organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp. Brees and the Saints eventually agreed to a deal in mid-July and the quarterback returned in time for the start of training camp.

Tackle Zach Strief said Tuesday that Graham's absence from the offseason program doesn't hinder the team at this point.

"(Does it affect the team) right now? No," Strief said. "He might not workout when I workout. I may never see the guy. Not right now. Obviously when you get into training camp, that's when you would start noticing it. Even in OTAs, that's a lot of personal development time. You're not really doing the team building yet. When you get into training camp and Jimmy's still not there, it stinks not to have him.

"Look, I think all of us understand and I think it's the hardest thing to understand from the outside. It is a business. Neither side is right, neither side is wrong. It just is what it is. I think that everyone knows that the first game of the season, Jimmy will be there and be ready to go. That's all you really want at the end of the day. You forget all of a sudden that he wasn't there for OTAs and all of those other things.

"Hopefully they get something done for Jimmy's sake, for the team's sake. I think it's best for everybody and they all agree with that. But we'll see how it plays out."